The present invention relates to an electronic stimulating apparatus, and more specifically, to modulated electronic stimulating apparatus and techniques for providing intermittent pulse trains for pain and muscle treatment.
Electrical stimulation of nerves, muscles, and other tissue for medical purposes has been well-known in the prior art for some time. Various devices and techniques have been used in attempts to provide the optimum treatment for pain and other tissue stimulation. In a variety of these techniques, low-frequency currents have been used to produce the desired stimulus. The low frequencies have been generated individually as well as by the interference of several medium frequency currents to produce low-frequency beat currents. The low-frequency stimulation, whether by direct application of frequencies in the range of 1 to 500 Hz, or by creation of beat frequencies in the range of 1 to 100 Hz have been observed to have direct stimulating effects on nerves and muscles. Nevertheless, the effects produced by the low-frequency stimulation are not always desirable for treating nerves and muscles under all circumstances.
In other techniques and apparatus of the prior art, it is known to use frequencies in the range of 2,000 to 3,000 Hz for stimulating the muscles of a patient. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,819, for example, a 2,000 to 3,000 Hz signal is modulated in bursts of 40 to 60 Hz and provided in intervals of 2 to 20 second periods separated by 2 to 50 second rest intervals. Again, while this system and technique provides for muscle stimulation and allegedly overcomes disadvantages of pain, discomfort and skin burns, the technique does not provide certain desirable effects that are necessary in the treatment of neurofibers and muscle stimulation.
In addition to the above devices, there are known high-frequency electrode devices which are used in cutting and burning of tissue for surgical and other medical purposes. Such devices operate in the frequency range of in excess of one megacycle and are modulated in a variety of ways to produce cutting and burning of animal tissue. These devices are not used for muscle stimulation and the teachings with respect to their high-frequency operation are generally not applicable to the techniques and systems used for pain and muscle control.
Accordingly, there is a present need for improved apparatus and techniques which produce desirable effects for nerve and muscle stimulation. The present invention has therefore been developed to overcome the specific shortcomings of the above known and similar techniques and to provide an electronic apparatus and technique for providing high-frequency pulsed nerve and muscle stimulation.